Jarell Quansah studied the art of elite defending by asking Liverpool to provide him with wide-angle footage of Virgil van Dijk and Jurgen Klopp‘s other centre halves.
The 20-year-old has broken through under Klopp this season, making his full Premier League debut in September, and has forced a way into England’s Under 21s.
The academy product revealed the attention to detail that has gone in behind the scenes, spending hours poring over clips given to him by the club’s analysis department.
‘I used to get high-cam footage instead of TV footage so you could see everything, how the back line moves and a little bit of everything,’ he said.
‘You just need to ask the right people. The way I learn is watching players. These players have played 400-500 games at the top level.
Jarell Quansah (left) has surprised Jurgen Klopp with how well he has done so far this season
Quansah has been studying Virgil van Dijk using wide-angle footage of his Reds team-mate
‘It would be stupid for me not to watch them. It’d be like having a resource and just throwing it away, I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.
‘Virgil makes everything look so easy doesn’t he and even when you’re next to him it is the same. It’s 24/7 learning really.
‘I love watching different countries and the way they defend. In Spain I looked at Sergio Ramos, (Leonardo) Bonucci in Italy and sometimes I’ll go on a mad one and watch any South American defenders. Especially Argentinian because I love the way they defend, Cristian Romero.’
Quansah spent last season on loan at Bristol Rovers, making 16 appearances in League One, and Klopp admitted surprise at the impact he has made so far this term.
‘Surprised could be deemed an interesting word but I think he means I wasn’t expected to be there yet,’ Quansah added.
The England U21 star loves to study art of defending in different countries to improve himself
‘I don’t think it was “It’s a surprise, I’ve trained with him before and he’s not a good player.”
‘I think it was about how soon it’s come and how I’ve dealt with the adversity I have been thrown into.
‘It’s not expected from being on loan at Bristol to going straight into the first team, and to do as well as I did. That’s where the surprise came from.
‘But there is no reason for me to sit on what I’ve got and go, “Oh yeah, I’ve played nine games for Liverpool.” That’s never been the end goal.
‘Nobody’s said he’s a top centre back, nobody’s said he’s all this so until I’m regarded as at least one of the best players in the Premier League, then there is no reason for me to sit on what I’ve got.’
